Butterfly Effect
by Diversus
Summary: Changing a small thing in the past can lead to an unrecognizable future. In this reality Minato and Kushina survived. Instead of having one son, Minato and Kushina had twin boys. Naruto doesn't have the burden of the Kyuubi, but his psychopath brother does. Keiji receives all the love and attention, while he is left to fend for himself.


Chapter 1

_Twelve years ago_

Obito couldn't help but smile. Rin was eating a strawberry cake and she looked very cute doing so. Kakashi sat next to him facing their sensei, Namikaze Minato, jonin of Konoha. Their sensei suggested they take the day off, but of course Minato-sensei wasn't the type to let them waste the day, Obito sighed. Something called "team building" their sensei said.

It was a sunny day and the people around were seated in similar white furniture outside the restaurant that Minato-sensei was paying for. They ate, and Obito loved to eat, especially if it was for _free_. The look on Minato-sensei's face was priceless when Obito ordered ten whole bowls of miso ramen.

Eating tons of ramen was something he shared with Minato-sensei's wife, Uzumaki Kushina, "no that's not right, it's Namikaze Kushina now," Obito thought while he looked at his sensei who was talking with Kakashi about his recent promotion to jonin. Obito didn't know how he felt about Kakashi being a higher rank than he was, but he couldn't do anything about it than train hard and achieve Jonin status as well.

"So Obito-kun, are you going to eat your cake or are you going to stare at the clouds all day?" Rin asked as she gave one of her sweet smiles. Those smiles could kill, Obito decided.

"Fine," Obito muttered as he dug into his own strawberry cake. The cake was colored white, pink and on the top red, coming from the delicious topped strawberries.

"Rin," Obito began with his mouth still full of cream and cake, "so the next mission is somewhere in Kusakagure?" Obito took another spoon full of cake.

Rin puffed, "you should really listen to the third when he briefs us on a mission."

"Well it's our day off, excuses me!"

"Impossible to argue with you Obito-kun," Rin replied, then her face took a more serious expression, "I hope the war ends soon, all this death and suffering, it's so messed up you know."

Obito nodded. The third shinobi war was something that scared a lot of people, and not only civilians. Sometimes, a thing he would only admit to Minato-sensei, he couldn't sleep because of the dead bodies and horrible screams, "I hope it ends soon too, Rin," Obito said sadly.

"Cheer up guys!" Minato-sensei exclaimed. He stood and clapped his hands, "wipe those depressed faces away, it's our free day, let's head out!" Obito knew their sensei was pulling up a façade. Only yesterday someone from the Aburame clan died, a close friend of their sensei. Their sensei wasn't himself at all yesterday, and was probably trying to make up for it today.

And so Minato and Kakashi led the group of four along a stony path in the center of Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves.

"Rin."

"What?"

"Riiinn."

"What is it?"

"Riiiiiiinnn."

"You want me to hit you that badly?"

"Riiiiiinnn," Obito loved to joke around with Rin, even if it got him hurt sometimes. "Wait wait! I'm sorry!" He said scared when Rin drove his back against a nearby wall. Minato and Kakashi ignored the duo like always when Obito was messing around.

"Nooooo!" But something strange happened then. Rin looked worriedly where a moment ago she was ready to pulverize him. Her eyes were wide open and she was shouting, but Obito couldn't hear a thing. His body felt heavy. He had no control over it at all. He fell to the ground. Minato and Kakashi rushed to his side.

"What's happening?" Obito thought scared. The world around him became gray.

"Snap out of it!" A voice pierced through the darkness. Obito knew that it belonged to Rin. The world colored again and his three teammates looked at him as if they were about to lose him.

"Thank God," Rin said with a broken voice, tears streaming down her face. She took Obito in her arms and gave a crushing hug.

"Can you stand Obito-kun?" Minato-sensei said, but even the calm and collected Yellow Flash looked as if he was about to break. The loss of yesterday still burned in his heart. Minato-sensei wouldn't actually show anyone that he was sad, becomes that would make others sad according to him, and he had to set an example, but Obito could see right through it.

"Don't make us worry like that again Obito," Kakashi said as he turned and walked ahead slowly before stopping and waiting for them. The look in Kakashi's eyes told Obito things that he should have discovered earlier. Kakashi was actually worried.

"You forgot your pills didn't you baka?" Rin said while she wiped her newly formed tears way. Rin was always like that. When something bad happened, she would cry, but only cry longer than five minutes if it was someone close to her. Rin was crying for almost half an hour. They took Obito to the Konoha hospital, where he was cleared by a doctor who prescribed new pills for Obito to take.

"Only you would forget your blood clotting medicine after having internal organ damage," Kakashi added lazily as they walked away from the hospital, the building disappearing behind clouds behind them.

"He probably didn't mean to put himself to immediate danger Kakashi-kun, don't be so hard," Minato put in. Still, the veteran Jonin looked over his shoulder to Obito every few minutes to make sure he was still there. Obito felt horrible about that, and of the fact that Rin had only just stopped crying after a good hour.

"I don't know what got into me guys, I really don't know why I forgot to take them in this morning, I'm on them for almost a week now," Obito looked sideways, trying to hide his guilt stricken face.

A while later the group stood in the middle of a crossroad.

"So we'll meet at the gate at about eight am," Minato-sensei waved goodbye when his students nodded.

"Don't be late Obito," Kakashi said, and left. Obito knew that Kakashi was tired of him being late all the time. He couldn't help it though; old ladies and cats needed his help. The weak needed protection after all.

Obito and Rin were the only two left. Obito was about to say his goodbye, but then Rin stopped him and slapped him hard across the cheek, which made it burn. Obito could only look down in shame when Rin broke up in tears again.

"Don't you ever do that again Obito! If you died, if you di-," she stopped herself, unable to speak. Obito wanted to make promises, but then Rin found the strength to speak, "Kakashi won't tell you this, but he actually cares about you, and Minato and I definitely show it, don't we?" Her words hurt him, "take care of yourself more, please," she begged, "tomorrow we're going to destroy the Kanabi Bridge and there are going to be a lot of dangerous enemy shinobi there, I'm not gonna let you get hurt, even if I have to die myself!"

And then Obito realized what Rin meant. He wanted to smile in victory, but instead he pulled Rin close to him and let her cry on his shoulder. It was odd of him to forget something so important as his medicine, but he would make sure to take care of his life more from now on.

The next day team Minato left for the mission in Kusakagure. When Team Minato returned, they made an everlasting victory on Iwa. The price, however, was the life of many leaf shinobi, including one known very well to team Minato; Uchiha Obito.

_Present day_

"Wake up loser," a voice yelled.

A boy with spiky blond hair and clear blue eyes looked up. _"Not this again, leave me alone," _Naruto wanted to say that, but instead he ignored his twin brother, Namikaze Keiji.

Naruto had his own room for several years. He was thankful for it every day. Reason being that Keiji had bad sleeping habits, episodes in which his twin would _accidentally _throw sharp objects at him. His room wasn't as big as Keiji's was, maybe smaller than half the size of his younger twin's. He had a closet where he hung his clothes, a desk where he did his homework and a bed with plain blue and white sheets.

Keiji already left the room when Naruto yawned and sat straight on the bed. _"Another morning, another day, I wonder if mom will finally buy me that dagger I've always wanted? Keiji always gets presents when he asks for them,"_ Naruto sighed, stood and walked to the hallway next to his room. The stairs were at the end of the hallway.

A minute later Naruto opened the fridge and went for his usual morning breakfast; eggs, bread and milk. He looked over his shoulder and saw his mother, who didn't seem to notice his presence, even though he said good morning, _twice. _

His mother was doing something she did for as long as he could remember; sharing ramen with Keiji. While he ate his breakfast, they ate beef, chicken, shrimp and other flavors of ramen.

Naruto sat at a chair farthest away from Keiji and silently ate his breakfast. Sometimes he would looked over the table to see if his mother would at least acknowledge that he was there, _"hey mom, I don't know if you've realized, but I'm right over here, your other son, born before Keiji, the one you welcomed first into this world."_

"Good morning honey," his mother said when his father walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the end of the table, next to Keiji and his mother.

Minato Namikaze wasn't just any normal person having dinner with his family. His father was the Fourth Hokage, the Fourth Shadow, the leader of the hidden leaf village of Konogakure no Sato. He had long light hair and the same colored eyes as his own.

"_Good morning dad, I missed you, you were away for a week!" _ Naruto wanted to say that, but his father didn't even give him a glance when he ruffled Keiji's blonde hair and kissed his mother on the forehead.

"How are the most important people in my life doing?" His father asked, eyes towards his brother and mother.

It hurt Naruto a lot to see his father blatantly ignore him. _"What did I do? I know that my grades aren't the best in class, and that I'm not the best in taijutsu, but could you at least say hello? Is it because you're the Hokage and want both your sons to have excellent grades?"_

That was where Keiji out marked Naruto in every way. Keiji was second in class with taijutsu, number one in ninjutsu, second in genjutsu and shared the first place with Uchiha Sasuke in kenjutsu. Keiji was also popular at school. The girls at school drool daily over his blond hair and blue eyes, hair lighter than Naruto's and eyes slightly darker.

"Hey mom, dad, Keiji, I'm heading out for school, see you at dinner," Naruto said after he washed his dishes and headed for the front door.

"Bye," both Minato and Kushina said in a way that sounded like they were glad that he was away. Naruto almost wanted to cry when he closed the door behind him. He could stand for almost any taunts that his brother sent his way, but his parents? He gulped and headed for the academy.

Their house was near the Hokage Building, and thus also near the academy. It houses a large basement where Keiji and his father train every day, never inviting Naruto. The rest was a regular above average home, suited well for the Hokage and tending to his every need.

"_Kami-sama, should a child hate their parents for not loving them? I mean, they do provide for me and all, but I feel like they don't love me at all,"_ Naruto's thoughts got more somber as he neared the academy. Already he could see crowds of kids his age entering the massive gates. Naruto hated getting crushed, and seeing as he was not as tall and strong as others of his age, he always chose to stay behind and wait for the crowds to disappear, then he would enter the school and find his classroom to sit in the back like always.

So that's what Naruto did. The halls were empty because he had the patience to wait for others to find their classroom, so instead of being bruised he was sitting comfortably in his chair.

Of course Keiji was already in the classroom when he entered. Keiji, although being his twin, was taller and had more muscle on his frame. The doctors said the reason behind that was that Naruto and Keiji were not identical twins, but fraternal twins.

Sitting at the front row below him, his brother was talking to Uchiha Sasuke, arguably equal to Keiji in fighting power and talent. Naruto didn't mind Sasuke, because Sasuke never minded him. Moreover, Sasuke ignored him, or acted as if he wasn't there. Naruto felt like he was the type that people could forget was there at all, like a shadow. He wondered if that was the reason that people never looked his way when he entered the classroom. It reminded him of Kuroko Tetsuya, a character from a play that was played in the Konoha Theater last year in the summer.

"Good morning Naruto-kun," there she was, Hyuuga Hinata, the only classmate who would utter a word to him. Hinata was a very confident girl and looked pretty if you would ask Naruto. She wore dark pants combined with a slim short sleeved gray hoodie.

"Good morning," Naruto said back. He leaned on his right fist, elbow on his desk. Hinata smiled and sat beside him in the last row of the classroom, right up next to a window. No one sat in the last row besides the two of them. No one actually dared saying something about it to Naruto (if they ever noticed that he was there at all) when Hinata was around. Hinata was nice to Naruto, but she was also very protective of him.

"Good morning class, are you ready for reviewing last week's homework?" Iruka-sensei said as he appeared in front of the class with Mizuki-sensei in tow. Naruto liked Mizuki-sensei, but Iruka-sensei was someone he was wary about.

About the time that he was born, Mizuki-sensei lost both his parents. It was the eve of the Kyuubi attack when it happened. If it wasn't for his own father, the Fourth Hokage, Mizuki-sensei would have taken his own life. Iruka-sensei had both his parents. _"Maybe I like Mizuki-sensei more because he knows what it's like to be lonely?"_

Last week's homework assignment was re-reading the requirements to pass the genin exam. Anyone who passed the exam would get to become genin. Naruto really wanted to become genin, _"maybe then mom and dad will tell me that they're proud of me?"_

"Naruto-kun, do you want to train with me? I've become rusty on my taijutsu you know, and since you rank higher than me in taijutsu…." Hinata looked hopeful as she asked that when the classroom emptied.

"Sure," Naruto answered. He knew that Hinata was lying, because she was only one rank below his own rank. Still, he liked Hinata's presence and it would do him good to blow of some steam, especially when he remembered that Keiji threw a kunai at him during class, which no one of course saw because Keiji had _that _ability. It made him angry to know that his father and brother had more in common than he would ever.

Hinata led Naruto to the back of the academy where a clearing resided. No one was there like usual, so they had the place to themselves.

Naruto eyed Hinata carefully._ "Clan Hyuuga, abilities Juken and Byakugan, weakness critical blind spot in rear," _Naruto loved analyzing his opponents, that's where he and Keiji strongly differed.

"Byakugan!" Hinata shouted. Veins appeared around her pale face and eyes. She pulled her hands up and stood in the Juken stance.

"_Attack target in close proximity will most likely end in defeat, distract and attack," _Naruto's mind fired up with plans, moves and scenarios. In one scenario he successfully distracted Hinata and made her give up by holding a kunai to her neck, in another he failed and Hinata closed his chakra points ending in his loss, in another he jumped, kicked and punched. Naruto's greatest weapon was his mind if anything. His mind was so full with plots that might happen that he had a solution to any probable ending. It was the gift given to him in the many years of being alone in his room while Keiji had the full attention of both his parents.

Hinata chose to attack first. Naruto quickly moved into a boxer's stance and moved aside to dodge the Juken strike. Then he made a straight with his left hand. Hinata managed to dodge it and retaliate with a kick that floored Naruto to the ground. Quickly Naruto formed seals as Hinata's next blow landed on him, _puff_, where Naruto was before now stood a log in a cloud of smoke. Naruto appeared behind Hinata and slammed a liver shot into her ribs. It hit mark. Hinata staggered as she clutched her side.

"We done?" Naruto asked.

"Like hell we are," Hinata responded as she launched a spin kick that Naruto only just managed to catch in his arms.

The opportunity was golden, so Naruto twisted Hinata's ankle, making her shift with the twist. She fell to the ground. Naruto pulled out a kunai from the holster on his orange and black cargo pants, and threw it towards Hinata. _"Target is about to use the replacement jutsu, intercepting now," _Naruto already knew what Hinata was about to do, so he made his own pair of seals.

In the next second Hinata disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared behind Naruto, "now we're done," Hinata smiled, "you were good."

"You were good too," Naruto answered as his clone disappeared in front of Hinata. He held a kunai close to her neck. Hinata gulped, looked over her shoulder and widened her eyes.

"Damn, you're a true prodigy Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she hung her arms down in defeat. Naruto pulled back his kunai and scratched the back of his head, _"should I tell her that I train for hours every single day Kami-sama? I'm not prodigy. Keiji's the prodigy in the family along mom and dad. I formulate plans. Keiji already knows what to do without thinking."_

Both Hinata and Naruto walked around the school and split paths at the academy entrance.

Naruto was lost in thought as he walked the pavement of Konoha. The sky was getting darker and it was about time for the shops to close. You could see fathers buying last-minute groceries with worried faces. Some of the shopkeepers, who were already closing their stores, greeted Naruto in respect.

"How's your father doing son?"

"Be sure to tell your father to come to our store, we have the best bargains for the Hokage!"

"Here take this and give it to your parents."

This happened more often than not. Naruto didn't mind it.

It was about fifteen minutes later when Naruto arrived in a forest clearing with thick trees and bushes around. It was night, and most kids his age would be at home eating with their parents and siblings, _"mom and dad never tell me where I was when I come home late. Sometimes having parents that don't care about you has its perks." _Naruto gulped and started his training regime.

Unknown to Naruto, a specter was watching him from a far distance through a crystal ball.

{Chapter 1}

A buzzing and loud sound boomed to his left. Naruto jolted up in sweat. He had a nightmare again, a nightmare that he only had in the days nearing his birthday.

The nightmare took place in a forest where three shinobi from Konoha, two boys and one girl, were fighting an Iwa shinobi. The Konoha nin with gray hair was shouting commands while the one who could only be an Uchiha was refusing. The girl was bleeding through her mouth and tears trickled down her soft cheeks.

Unknown to the three the Iwa shinobi had launched several seals and out of nowhere a big rock the size of a house appeared above them. The gray haired Konoha nin was the only one not fast enough to escape. He was about to die, but then the Uchiha appeared behind him and pushed him away. Dust cleared away. Under the rock the Uchiha's entire left side was crushed.

The girl cried while she held the Uchiha's hand, blood still coming in streams through her mouth. The gray haired boy cried, but tears never left his eyes.

The scene shifted. Now they grey haired boy was facing the Iwa shinobi all alone. In his right eye socket a red eye spun in fury. Tears left his eyes as he moved in speeds that the Iwa shinobi couldn't match. A moment later the Iwa nin fell dead to the ground. Then the gray haired boy screamed in agony. The Iwa nin shimmered away and in his place the Uchiha boy appeared with a crushed left side and a missing right eye. The Konoha girl was nowhere to be seen.

That wasn't what woke Naruto up in sweat, it was what happened next.

The forest clearing disappeared and made place for Konoha, only it wasn't the usual Konoha that Naruto knew, it was Konoha burning in chaos and destruction. People screamed for help, houses burned, civilians crushed by broken debris, children wept on top of their dead parents. It was a whole other reality than the one Naruto knew.

A baby cry pierced through the chaos. The dream made his body move with the speed of light, and now he was in a dimmed room. In the room his mother lay on a large bed, with his father beside her. Naruto understood by now that this must be a dream about his own birth.

A moment later his mother gave birth to a blond boy that Naruto recognized to be himself. His baby self was shrouded in a cloud of white energy. Another baby was born and Naruto saw the baby version of Keiji. When baby-Keiji opened his eyes, the hairs on Naruto's back went up in shock. His brother's sclerea were black and his irises were the color of blood. His father took baby Keiji from the arms of Kushina and spoke words too fast for Naruto to follow. Suddenly everything happened at once. Marks appeared around baby-Keiji's stomach, a dark shroud of energy appeared around him and a voice so dark that Naruto felt like crying boomed in the room.

"**Doomed is the world where the one who shouldn't be is, where souls who belong to the afterlife reside in the living world, where eyes sinister than my own exist."**

That woke up him every single year since he could remember.

Naruto didn't realize that he didn't shut off his alarm, it was still buzzing to his left. He pushed the button on the top of the alarm, pulled his covers away and left his bedroom.

Downstairs Keiji and his family were eating breakfast, like usual. Naruto could only shake his head in denial, _"just a dream." _

"Look who's up, good morning nisan," Keiji said happily. Naruto long got used to the fake voices that his brother used in front of his parents and teachers.

Naruto ignored Keiji, walked over to the fridge and pulled out a few apples. He didn't want to eat too much, because it was the day of the genin exam.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they say good morning Naruto," his mother said. Naruto gulped, _"look who's talking mom."_

"That's right Naruto, Keiji-kun is being polite and you're his older brother after all," his father started when he put down his bowl of cereal, "you know, sometimes I wish you were more like Keiji-kun." That put a rock in Naruto's throat and made his eyes well up.

He didn't want to cry in front of Keiji or his parents, so he stood, left the kitchen, went through the living room and slammed the front door shut. He could have sworn that he heard, "what's wrong with that son of yours Kushina-chan?," just before he left.

Naruto took a sprint and disappeared in a nearby alley. Soundlessly he cried years of emotional mistreatment and misery. Naruto gulped and looked up at the sky, rage filling his eyes instead of the sadness of before, "I've had it Kami-sama! I've had it! They can die for all I care!" A silent wind passed his face when he said that.

That day, Naruto vowed to never see his family as family again. They never cared for him, made the greater part of his childhood a mess of misery and self-loathing, and worst of all, didn't see through the fake smiles and words that Keiji used. Well, they could have their perfect prodigy son if they wanted to. He didn't care anymore. It didn't matter anymore.

At the end of the day Naruto passed the genin exam with ease. Mizuki-sensei proudly gave him his Konoha headband and gave him a handshake and a pat on the back for a job well done. "I'll be expecting great things from you Naruto-kun," it felt good that someone actually cared. On the same day Mizuki-sensei announced that next week they would be divided amongst squads of genin with a jonin to train and lead them on missions.

Minato and Kushina were present on the graduation day as well, taking pictures with Keiji in front of other proud parents. They didn't even bother to congratulate Naruto. Naruto simply ignored them and walked away from the academy. The streets and roads in Konoha were empty because most people were at the academy to congratulate their offspring. The marketplace was busy though, and Naruto found himself there after a while of dwelling. His mind was empty and he didn't know anyone else that might care if he passed or not. Even Hinata was preoccupied by her father, mother and little sister.

"Hello Naruto-kun."

Naruto turned and saw an old man behind him, someone he knew only by face. "Hello," Naruto answered back.

"Do you want to know why your parents care more about your brother than they care about you?" The old man paused for Naruto to register the words, "follow me, and I'll tell you," and with that the old man turned and walked away..

Naruto didn't know why, but something told him that he had to follow the old man. Naruto ran after the old man and walked beside him a moment later.


End file.
